Aalborg University - History

History

Aalborg University (AAU) was founded in 1974 under the name of Aalborg University Center (AUC) as a result of a series of mergers between a number of institutions, which made it possible to create a single university with several faculties. At its establishment in 1974, AUC had a Faculty of Humanities, a Faculty of Social Science and a Faculty of Technical-Natural Science . In 1994, AUC changed name to Aalborg University (AAU). In the same year, Aalborg University opened the Faculty of Health Sciences. Although AAU is a young university in Denmark with its 40 years of history, the university has some even greater roots such as the Master of Science programme in Surveying and Mapping Programme, which is the oldest education at Aalborg University, originally created in 1768. The Surveying and Mapping programme still exists at Aalborg University and is offered both in Aalborg and at the university’s department in Copenhagen. Aalborg University's roots can be traced back to e.g. a number of older institutions, which now are part of the university such as The Business School Department in Aalborg founded in 1920, National Building Research Institute established in 1947, Esbjerg Engineering College established in 1963, The School of Social Work in Aalborg founded in 1966, The National Engineering Academy established in 1967 and Copenhagen Business School Aalborg Department established in 1969. Since its establishment in 1974, AAU has been characterised by a problem-based and project-oriented teaching method. In 1995, AAU opened a department in Esbjerg by merging with Esbjerg Engineering College; in 1996, the School of Architecture & Design was created; in 2003, Aalborg University opened a department in Copenhagen; and in 2006, the School of Medicine was created.